Artist Statement. Through the voices of my teachers past and present, i strive to create ceramic pieces that convey a sense of the clay's softness,malleable nature and serendipity. All the matcha chawan are thrown and/or handbuilt. Some are altered and then trimmed by my personal handmade trimming tools and fired to cone 10. Note, that no tools are used to shape the bowls, all hand shaped with my finger prints etched into each piece that hopefully will last over 10,000 years as with Jomon era pottery. When throwing ceramic pieces, i believe in a minimalist approach, only hands and a string are used in creating each matcha chawan. Each piece is one of a kind, unique with its own spirit.

one of my influences regarding making chawan. "They are not only to gaze upon, but must be held and used to appreciate the inherent beauty and art; this cannot be done either with paintings or sculpture. To make a good chawan, one has to understand the value of old masterpieces. I have come to that understanding but still can't seem to make even one worthy chawan!" -- kato tokuro